Wi-Fi 6 OFDMA Pre-Correction Test Solution with IQxel-MW and IQsniffer

Wi-Fi 6, the next-generation Wi-Fi’s connectivity technology based on the IEEE 802.11ax standard, promises greater capacity and more robust data transmission than previous Wi-Fi standards. Designed for improving capacity in environments with many connected devices such as stadiums and other public venues, Wi-Fi 6 provides 4x increase in user and system capacity over Wi-Fi 5. By allowing simultaneous access for multiple devices, 802.11ax lowers latency and enables more data transferred at once. Wi-Fi 6 biggest technology change comes from the introduction of OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access).

OFDMA is a multi-user version of OFDM (used in earlier WLAN generations) where the Wi-Fi channel width is divided among multiple users who simultaneously exchange data with the Access Point using smaller sub-channels called resource units (RU). The 802.11ax standard borrows this technology from LTE networks to deliver a significant breakthrough in user capacity. This whitepaper gives a brief overview of the downlink and uplink OFDMA mechanisms.